Fears about plans to redevelop Grade II listed building at UEA
A team from the UEA warned the Lasdun Wall could become unusable by 2025 if work is not completed.
Plans to redevelop one of Norfolk’s foremost brutalist architectural features will be decided next week but fears have been raised that it could damage the building’s heritage.
The University of East Anglia wants to redevelop the Grade II listed ‘Lasdun Wall’ teaching block.
This will involve stripping it back to its original concrete frame and rebuilding with the addition of two five-storey, 2,900msq extensions.
Ahead of City Hall making a decision on the plans next Thursday, two heritage groups have raised concerns that redevelopment could harm the historic structure.
But the university says the work is urgently needed.
The plans are part of a wider redevelopment of the campus, with safety improvements to the distinctive ziggurat building already given approval.
The Twentieth Century Society, a charity which campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage, said: “We do not feel that the proposed extensions would be ‘carefully calibrated and sympathetically massed’, as described in the application, but rather consider them to be over scaled and such as would cause substantial harm.
“Additionally, the proposals would adversely impact the settings of the adjacent Grade II* Ziggurat blocks.
“We, therefore, recommend refusal of planning permission and listed building consent.”
The group argued decisions were being “justified on economic grounds” which it said should not outweigh the preservation arguments.
Historic England, a heritage watchdog, echoed their concern, saying: “The proposed design constitutes the most harmful route to providing new accommodation both in terms of loss of historic fabric and visual impact on the listed building.”
But the UEA has dismissed their concerns saying the Lasdun Wall is an important part of the UEA’s history but it is in need of urgent repair and refurbishment. This will enable the university to “create even better teaching, learning and research spaces”.
He said: “The building is also a major contributor to our carbon emissions, and our ambition is to be a net zero campus by 2045.
“We have been working since December 2020 with a very wide range of stakeholders, including our heritage partners, for the first part of the refurbishment of the Grade II listed building.
“These plans will not affect the listed status and are sympathetic and respectful to the building’s heritage.”
At a meeting earlier this year, a team from the UEA warned the Lasdun Wall could become unusable by 2025 if work is not completed.